Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
Loads of tips and ideas to help you reach your fundraising target
for the Gorilla Organization, and to have a fun time in the process
You’ll be helping to save the world’s last remaining gorillas who are targeted by poachers and illegal game hunters,
threatened by the effects of civil war and human disease and face losing their beautiful forest habitat as a result of
deforestation and human encroachment.
By taking part in part in one of our events or by organising your own event on behalf of The Gorilla Organization you’ll
be raising invaluable funds to support more than 20 key projects dedicated to the protection and preservation of the
gorillas. These include:
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Ranger Patrols – Working with the local authorities, the Gorilla Organization gives financial support to maintain
the teams of anti-poacher rangers who work around the clock to protect the gorillas and their precious habitat.
Forest-dwelling People – Increasingly seen as conservation’s unintended victims, the indigenous Batwa
people of the Virunga Volcanoes rainforest were ejected from their traditional forest homes with the creation of
the national parks. Today, The Gorilla Organization helps these poverty stricken people by providing land,
tools, seeds, training, healthcare, and assistance in generating income.
Education – To educate the next generation about the importance of environmental conservation, the
Organization has set up Virunga Wildlife Clubs and has established more than 350 clubs in locally based
schools.
Tree Planting – To prevent further destruction of the gorillas’ habitat, the Organization has established six tree
nurseries around the national parks. Thousands of saplings have been distributed to villagers to plant around
their fields in the buffer zone next to the parks. This agro-forestry project aims to encourage local people to
take an active role in conservation.
Community Development – The Gorilla Organization works to provide local people with sustainable
alternatives to entering the gorillas’ forest habitat. Projects include an agricultural training scheme; the provision
of hygienic water cisterns and fuel-efficient stoves; and a micro-loan scheme that encourages small
enterprises, which in turn alleviates pressure on the forest.
How to raise funds without even breaking a sweat…
Online fundraising pages
If you haven’t already got an online fundraising page, then get on the computer. Whether you use Just Giving, Artez Global or
Virgin Money Giving, or another provider – it is an invaluable tool and the easiest way to get your supporters to donate.
Personalise your page with text, photos, video and regular updates.
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Your page should be titled with the name of your event
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Enter your fundraising target
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Enter your personal message: What is your event, how will this help to save the gorillas? Why are you supporting the
Gorilla Organization? How can the people looking at this page help you raise your funds?
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Update your confirmation message. Remember that this will be sent out to everyone that sponsors you so make sure
to be grateful.
Send an e-mail to friends, family, work colleagues and acquaintances with a simple and fairly short description of what you are
doing and why, and ask them to click on the link to donate to your fundraising total.
And make sure to thank everyone who donates
Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
Go on, sponsor me, I’m a gorilla…
First things first… ask everyone you know to sponsor you: at work, at home, at the gym, your friends, your family, your
neighbours – everyone. Put up signs on notice boards, send e-mails, phone around and keep a sponsorship form with you at
all times – you’d be surprised where you’ll find potential sponsors.
Gorilla Tip: Why not take your sponsorship form with you to the pub – people can feel quite generous when they’re
out having a good time!
Saddle up to the boss…
If your company doesn’t offer to sponsor you the full £400 outright (well, it’s worth asking) find out if they operate a Matched
Giving scheme. If they do, they’ll make a donation up to/equal to the amount of sponsorship that you raise elsewhere. Your HR
department should be able to tell you if you’re eligible, and if you are… then you’ve just made your fundraising much easier!
Corporate sponsorship…
Gorilla Tip: your company will probably want to see photocopies of all your sponsorship forms before
they’ll pay up, so make sure you keep clear records of all the sponsorship you collect.
More Hair-raising Fundraising Ideas…
Why not arrange a gorilla themed quiz night (see the next page for some question ideas); a gorilla sports match or tea party.
The list is endless. Feel free to think as creatively as you like and as long as it’s safe and legal we’re happy for you to do it.
There are some rules and regulations that apply to collecting money in public (see Pub Crawl notes on the next page) so
please check with us first if you plan on holding a public event. In the mean time, here is a few ideas to get you started.
Fur-less Things to do at Home
Hold a grill-a barbecue
Banana curry and banoffie pie night
Host a Gorillas in the Mist movie night
African wine tasting night
Jungle juice cocktail evening
Apes at Work
Sell homemade banana deserts
Sell bananas
Gorilla Friendly Fete Ideas
Gorilla face painting
Banana throwing
Guess the weight of the gorilla
Pin the banana on the gorilla’s hand
Fur Lined Fundraising
Gorilla fashion show
Gorilla art exhibition
Hold an ‘Adorable Ape’s Ball’
Go on a gorilla pub crawl
Gorilla quiz night
Aping about!
Sit in a bath of bananas
Host a gorilla’s picnic
Shave/wax your head/chest/back
Grow a hairy gorilla beard
Wear gorilla feet for a week
Soggy banana sponge throwing
Hire-out your Gorilla services to…
Shine shoes
Wash cars
Mow lawns
Clean windows
Slave for a day
Give massages
Walk dogs (if you dare!)
Baby-sit (err maybe not!)
Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
Last year’s Great Gorilla Runners told us that one of their favourite ways to raise
money was to bake, sell (…oh and eat) banana cakes!
Why not have a go at baking these yourself. This recipe for Banana Scones costs about £2.50 to make and produces around
10 scones… so if you can flog these to your friends and workmates for £1 a scone, you can make £7.50 profit for the charity.
Do this say every Friday for 3 months and you’ve raised £100!
Banana Cake
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2 or 3 very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 stick (8 Tbsp) 4 oz (100 g) butter or margarine
1/2 cup (100 g) 4 oz caster sugar (superfine granulated)
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups (225 g) 8 oz self-raising flour
Lemon icing (optional)
1. Mash the bananas with the lemon juice.
2. Cream together the fat and sugar then beat in the eggs followed by the bananas.
3. Sift the flour and mix into the banana mixture.
4. Turn into a greased 15 x 20 cm (6 x 8 inch) cake tin and bake in a moderately hot oven 200°C (400°F) Gas Mark 6 for 40 to
45 minutes.
5. Cool on a wire rack.
6. If you like, ice the cake with a lemon icing, but it is very nice plain.
Host a Gorilla Quiz Night
If baking scones isn’t your scene, then why not host a Gorilla Quiz Evening? You can do this at home, in your local pub, club
or even at work. Simply charge entrants a fee to play (set this at a level that you think they can afford) and offer a bottle of
wine or box of chocolates as a prize. Make up questions that best suit your contestant’s age, knowledge and interests but
don’t forget to keep the gorilla theme in there too!
Here are a few gorilla themed questions to ‘ape-up’ your quiz night…
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Who played the part of Dian Fossey in the film Gorillas in the Mist?
Sigorney Weaver
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What was the name of the heroine who fell in love with King-Kong in the 1933 film of the same name?
A character’s name was Ann Darrow who was played by Fay Wray
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Who wrote the novels on which the Hollywood blockbusters Congo and Jurassic Park were based?
Michael Crichton
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Which rock/pop band sung the words: “ I ain't happy, I'm feeling glad; I got sunshine, in a bag; I'm
Useless, but not for long; the future is coming on”
The Gorillaz
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Which games console company released Donkey Kong in 1981
Nintendo
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In the Monty Python ‘Up your Gorilla’ sketch which sport does one of the exasperated gorillas
Suggest he’s leaving to do?
Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
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Go skiing
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Leonardo DiCaprio has a famously talented gorilla friend who has a working vocabulary of over 1000
sign-language signs and understands around 2000 words of spoken English. What is the gorilla’s name?
Koko
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Complete the names of these two famous Cuban guerrillas… Che and Fidel
Che Guevara and Fidel Castro
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What was the name of London Zoo’s famous gorilla who died in 1978?
Guy
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What is the name of the gorilla in the Mighty Boosh?
Bollo
The famous… Gorilla Pub Crawl!
Take several people, several gorilla suits and put them in a town centre on a Saturday night and you’ve got yourself an instant
Gorilla Pub Crawl. It’s a great way to raise a few pounds and it can be an enormous amount of fun… but there are a few rules
and you will need to do some planning to keep it legal and safe. Here are a few guidelines to keep you on the ‘straight and
narrow’, but please do call us (on 020 7483 2681) if you are in any doubt:
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IMPORTANT: If you are under the age of 16 please contact us for more information.
You should only collect money in an official Gorilla Organization collection tin or bucket (call us if you need one). The
collection tins come with all the legal guidelines and an official letter of authorisation, please read these before you start
collecting and keep them with you on the crawl.
You MUST NOT collect on the streets, on pavements, in parks and on public byways – your collection tin rules will
explain more about this but please bear this in mind at all times… or you could end up in jail!
You must ask for permission from all the licence holders of the pubs and clubs you visit before you ask their customers
for donations. And you’ll have a much more successful crawl if you plan your route and ask pubs in advance.
Take it easy… whilst you’re out there you are guardians of the Gorilla Organization’s money and you represent the
charity. So please try not to get too drunk …for your own safety’s sake too!
Above all… have fun! We know that it sounds like there’s lots of rules and red tape, but once you’ve read all the
guidelines and know the legal position, the golden rule is to enjoy yourself!
Fed up with asking for sponsorship?
If you’re one of those extremely kind people who’s always doing something for charity, you may have noticed that your friends
and family have started to get a bit tired of sponsoring you to do this, that and the other… and you’re probably getting a bit fedup asking them too. One way of getting round this problem is to hire out your services for a charitable fee. Offer to baby-sit for
your friends so that they can have a peaceful night out, wash your neighbours’ cars, mow their lawns, wash their windows or
even walk their dogs. In fact there are dozens of things you could do and you’ll be amazed how quickly the money comes
rolling in! In a previous Great Gorilla Run one of our gorilla runners washed 26 cars over a bank-holiday weekend and raised
over £300 doing it! Here are a few other ideas:
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Give up something you would really miss, like sweets or TV and get people to sponsor you for a day or a week (for
each day that you manage to go without).
For every time people drink tea in the office they could donate 10p.
Organized a bring-and-buy sale, proceeds added to your sponsorships.
Get people to sponsor you to have an outrageous haircut.
Get people to sponsor you to not talking.
Get people to sponsor you to see how many bananas you can eat in a minute.
You’ll find it’s so much easier to get people involved in your fundraising by making yourself useful. They’ll feel like they’re
getting something in return for their donation, and you won’t feel so bad about asking them to part with a few pounds for
charity.
Gorilla Tips for Fundraising Events
What to do with your sponsorship money…
If you’re approaching companies, you’ll probably collect a good percentage of your sponsorship
money before the event. If you do, please send this through to us straight away. And don’t
forget to include a note stating your name and address as well as the company’s name and
address details – so we know who raised it and where it came from! Then, when you’ve finished
collecting the rest of your sponsorship money, please send it along with the original sponsorship
forms to us at:
The Gorilla Organization
110 Gloucester Avenue
London
NW1 8XH
A few things to bear in mind:
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Try to direct your sponsors to donate through your Virgin Money Giving site
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All cheques and postal orders should be made payable to The Gorilla Organization
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Please avoid sending cash through the post
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We accept CAF cheques and cards
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Your sponsors can make immediate credit card donations over the telephone by calling 0207 916 4974 but please ask
them to quote your name and postcode so that we can allocate their gift to your total.
Remember to get ALL your sponsors to sign on your sponsorship form to allow us to claim gift aid. This would allow
The Gorilla Organization to claim an extra 25% on top of your donation.
And finally…
Please keep in touch and let us know how your fundraising is going. You can call us on 020 916 4974 or e-mail us at
[email protected] if you would like any help with your ideas. We can provide collection tins, posters, flyers and stickers to help
with your fundraising.